The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation has said the country will become a regional hub of petrochemical and fertilizer by 2017.
The Group Executive Director, Gas and Power, NNPC, Dr. David Ige, said this in Abuja while receiving the Man of the Year Award from the Oil and Gas Yearbook.
Ige, according to a statement by the corporation, said the gas development capacity in the country was being redoubled and that in a few years from now, the entire nation would be wired up for gas.
“All that we need to make Nigeria a regional hub of petrochemical and fertilizer is in place, and by 2017, Nigeria clearly will become the regional hub of gas in Africa,” Ige said.
He said the dedicated major gas infrastructure development initiated by the Jonathan administration was designed to create flexibility of movement of domestic gas nationwide.
Ige further said the Ajaokuta-Kano-Kaduna gas line was at an advanced stage of design to supply gas to the northern part of the country for power generation and gas-based industries.
According to him, similar gas infrastructure projects are ongoing in different parts of the country.
The NNPC GED averred that the improvements in gas supply and power availability were a testament to the holistic approach of the administration to resolving the power crisis in the country permanently.
He said the nation was on its way to achieving gas export parity, a development that would encourage greater investment by the private sector in the exploration and production of gas.
Ige said domestic gas usage had been increasing, noting that 300 taxi drivers had converted their cars to run on gas in Benin city.